Project Team
Mónica Sousa
PROJECT COORDINATOR
Mónica Sousa is the Project Coordinator and a Work Package Leader of NCBio. She is currently the Director of the IBMC, one of the founder institutes of the i3S - University of Porto. Mónica is also the Principal Investigator of the Nerve Regeneration group at the IBMC/i3S, which is focused on understanding cytoskeleton organization and dynamics during axon growth, degeneration and regeneration.
Matthew Holt
ERA CHAIR HOLDER
Matthew Holt joined the IBMC/i3S as the ERA Chair Holder and is a WP Leader. He is the Principal Investigator of the Synapse Biology group, which focuses on synapse formation and assembly. He is also the vice-coordinator of the Neurobiology & Neurologic Disorders Program at the i3S. He is co-founder and scientific advisor for Aila Biotech.
Júlio Borlido Santos
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
Júlio Borlido Santos is the coordinator of the Communication Unit of the IBMC/i3S and a Work Package Leader of NCBio. He has worked as a life sciences researcher, schoolteacher and demonstrator at the University of Porto. He organizes, promotes and teaches advanced training for scientists and other audiences on "Science, Ethics and Society". He is also the vice-president of the i3S Council for Ethics and Responsible Research and a member of the Communication Council of University of Porto.
João Relvas
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
João Relvas is a Work Package Leader of NCBio. He is the Principal Investigator of the Glial Cell Biology group at the IBMC/i3S, which is focused on the molecular mechanisms of glial homeostasis, particularly myelinating glia and microglia. He is an invited Associate Professor of Biomedicine at the Faculty of Medicine (University of Porto), member of the scientific council of the Fundação Bial (Porto) and of the Network Glia (Berlin).
Olga Sin
PROJECT MANAGER
Olga Sin is an alumnus of the GABBA doctoral program (2009) from the University of Porto and has a Ph.D. in neurosciences from the University of Groningen (The Netherlands). During her post-doc at the Max Plack Institute for Molecular Biomedicine (Germany) and University of Bern (Switzerland) she was awarded both the Dutch Rubicon Post-Doctoral Fellowship and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship. In 2022, she switched careers to Project Manager of the NCBio ERA Chair project. She makes sure the project’s deliverables are executed and she identifies, prepares and submits applications together with the ERA Chair Holder. She is also responsible for establishing relationships with clinicians, health industry and patient groups via the NCBio Stakeholder Hub.
Tânia Pinto
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
Tânia Pinto is a WP Leader. She has a Ph.D. in Economics and is the Head of Human Resources at the IBMC/i3s. She assists with the recruitment processes for the ERA Chair Team. Additionally, her role is to implement institutional adaptations to align with the ERA priorities and ensure the renewal of the HR Excellence in Research Award.
Maria Cunha Alegre
WEB DESIGNER & CONTENT MANAGEMENT
Maria Cunha Alegre is part of the i3s Communications Unit. She has a degree (BA and MA) in Fine Arts from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP). In 2023, she won a scholarship to do a specialisation in Design, Editing and Management of Digital Publications and Online Communication, also at FBAUP. Maria assists with the maintenance and branding of the NCBio ERA Chair website, and she is also responsible for developing all kinds of editorial material for the project's communication with stakeholders and general public.